On the Proper Tipping of Hairstylists...Eventually
Posted by Rebecca Tue, 13 Mar 2007 19:03:00 GMT
I got my hair cut today, and I must say, my stylist did a great job once again. She gives me a great haircut every time I see her, without fail. She’s been cutting my hair since I was 19 and mistaken for a boy because my hair was so short. She mad me look like a girl again. She’s fabulous.
To top it off, she’s affordable. If you have short hair, it’s $35 and if you have long hair it’s $40. To get consistently high-quality service at that price is very unusual, especially since her shop is in downtown Austin. If you go to Ulta you will pay at least twice as much.
She is also talented. Ask my sister. Kinder may have gotten the “beautify yourself” genes but God evened things out with our hair. Kinder looks like she just stepped off the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine all the time. She’s gifted that way. I of course look like I just got back from feeding the hogs out back. But, I got the manageable hair, with the perfect amount of body in it and she got the dry, frizzy fro. The funny thing is that because I lack the skills to make my hair consistently look good, my hair usually looks bad and her hair usually looks great. What happens when we get together? She plays with my hair and we both look fabulous.
I digress.
The point of this post is really to say that I always tip Ruby. Until today, I usually gave her a tip of $5 because I have five fingers on one hand and it’s a nice round number. But today I was startled by the thought that I may be under-tipping. After all, polite gratuity at a restaurant is at least 15%. So today I tipped $7, because you know, that extra $2 will really pad her pocketbook.
What do you think is a good tip for someone who always does a great job on your hair, always remembers what you last talked about even if it was 8 months ago (yes it’s been that long since I last had a haircut) and always asks about your family members by name? Is there a percentage rate or is it a flat fee?
